The Sunset In Her Eyes
by Verthril
Summary: If he was the wild, then she was the wilderness. Seductive was it to surrender to their reckless natures thought tempered and tamed, the beckoning of the coming storm and the beast beating beneath his breast. They were day and night teetering on the edge of the horizon, the smoldering spark of the sunset threatening to set their passion aflame to engulf them. - RoLo
1. Chapter 1

Marvel owns the X-men, no profit is to be made from this work.

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As a man who couldn't recall ever getting so much as a sniffle, Logan couldn't know what the kid was going through as she hacked and coughed towards that awful moment when she spat another gob of phlegm into a tissue. It was almost enough to put him off the can of stew he had warming on the stove along with a bowl of chicken noodle for her.

"I'm sorry." The girl meekly wheezed.

Trying to remember her name, she was one of Rogue's friends, the loud one. Kitty was the opinionated one out of the pair, damned smart and she knew it. Once that girl got enough real world experience under her belt she was sure to become a lady a fella trifled with at their own risk.

"Don't worry about it kid, I've heard worse from truckers you'd think had a case of the Black Lung for how much they smoked."

"Gross..."

Chuckling, it sure as hell was gross. It wasn't the Black Lung the kid had but a case of pneumonia after a stubborn bout of bronchitis took a turn for the worst, something she was prone to ever since her stay with Stryker. Jubilee, that was the kid's name, a shame it took thinking about that son of a bitch to remind him.

Having a gander at the fire, the big old log he'd tossed on it to see them through the night finally seemed to be catching, splitting with sudden a loud crack that sent sparks dancing. His little cabin wasn't much, but it was his and something he'd built with his own two hands (and a little help from whoever felt like stopping by to lend a hand). A school full of hormonal kids left a man needing his own space.

"Ya want it in a bowl or a mug?"

"Mug please."

Sounding plenty breathless, it was a reminder to check her temperature again to make sure she wasn't running too high a fever. She'd gone delirious from a fever and done a number on her room that had the fire alarm vying to be heard over her fireworks show. Standing there with a spent fire extinguisher listening to Ro try and console the delirious girl, that had been all it taken for him to offer to take care of her somewhere she didn't have to be scared of hurting someone.

"Here ya go." Tucking an arm behind her back to help her sit up, he passed off her dinner that he didn't give two hoots as to how much she could get down just so long as she kept drinking her ice water and juice, doctors orders and all.

Checking her forehead and cheek, the first time he'd done that she'd flinched. He had three guesses and the first two didn't count, or so Rogue liked to say. A lot of the kids had a healthy respect for his hardware after how he'd used them against the fuckers who ran a raid on a school. As it turned out she was one of the kids who'd seen what happened when Rogue had woken him from a night terror back when they were both still new to the school.

"Ya want me to toss on one o' your movies?" A box full of action flicks and crude comedies bought the kid a few points in his book.

Shaking her head no, that told him just how sick she was that all she wanted to do was sleep. "Those pills doing anything for ya?"

Shrugging as she sipped her soup, the good Doctor McCoy had prescribed the kid antibiotics back when he'd been worried it was just bronchitis. It was a new record for her that landed her down in the Medlab for chest X-rays just three days after having a cough and sore throat. Clenching his fist, Logan let go of a slow breath to calm himself after thinking of how bad off the kids would been in that hole of Stryker's if they'd been half as sick Jubilee was right now.

"Usually I can't get a word in edgewise with ya."

Her quiet laugh turned into a coughing fit that had him reaching for a tissue to hold for her so she could spit out the sickly filth filling her lungs. Tossing it with the rest, it was a guilty thought to think how easy it'd be to help Rogue if she was the one who was sick, all he'd need to do was check her temperature good and long to set her on the road to recovery, a goddamned highway with what his healing would do for her.

"Sorry..." Logan whispered, getting interested in his stew that was going cold.

"...s'kay" Jubilee hoarsely croaked.

Finishing his stew around the time she'd gotten half her soup down, as he got up to go do the dishes she held her mug up for him. "All done?"

Saving her breath with a nod, she was half asleep and it wouldn't be long before she nodded off again. Hitting up the kitchen to tackle the domestic chore he didn't mind too much after a life spent on the road, more times than he could count his version of doing the dishes had been throwing the paper plates into campfire or chucking empty take out bags in the trash as he filled up the tank.

Leaving the sink to fill as he cracked open a beer, with only his fireplace lending it's light he had a clear view into the dark woods that his little cabin was tucked away in. Usually he'd be out on the deck enjoying a couple of cold ones with something on the grill, but that was something his little houseguest wasn't up to.

"Maybe when she's back on feet..." Logan mused, cranking shut the taps to get down to a few dishes.

He could count the number of folk who stopped by on one hand, usually just Rogue and her fella when they wanted to get away from everyone. Pete was known to stop by now and again when he wanted to have a talk, ever since Stryker he'd been a young man looking for pointers when it came to a fight. Then there was Ro...

"Fuck." Logan cursed as the business end of a knife sliced deeply.

Shaking the bloodied, soapy water from his finger so he could watch it heal, it reminded him of the very girl that tied him to his little houseguest. He could hear that question of Rogue's all over again, _does it hurt_?

"Every damned time..."

Leaving the dishes to dry in their own time, his deck was calling to him if just for a smoke and a spell to enjoy the autumn evening. Checking back in on Jubilee, sure enough she was fast asleep. Making sure she was properly tucked in, try as he might to give her his bed she wouldn't have any of it, the kid was content to crash on his couch and threatened to paf him if he tried.

Hitting up his humidor for a contraband Cuban, that had been a little housewarming gift from Chuck right along with a story about how he and his first class of X-men had stopped World War III from happening. Crashing in an Adirondack chair with a view of his fireplace, he lit up to enjoy a puff, blowing smoke to the breeze to notice a shift that left him downwind in a way that hinted that he had company coming.

"I know you're out there Ro."

Rich laughter danced with the breeze as she revealed herself, stepping out from behind his cabin that she had hidden behind.

"And here I thought myself clever, what gave me away?"

Pointing off to those trees whose boughs swayed differently from the breeze that had kept her scent from him, she looked on them embarrassed to have missed that detail. Dressed for an evening walk in a wool jacket, jeans and knee-high calfskin boots, her scarf was a concession for the hint winter that hung in the autumn air.

"Lemme get a fire going." Logan grunted, having been enduring the cold thinking he'd only be out long enough himself for a smoke.

As mysterious as the morning fog, her eyes gave away none of her secrets despite her inviting smile.

"Why don't I fix us a drink." Ororo offered, using it as an excuse to check on Jubilee along her way to the liquor cabinet.

Piling up the kindling with a few balls of newspaper, he lit it with his cigar to then enjoy a puff in the company of the blazing warmth that ate away at the tinder. Adding a few broken branches gathered from walks with Rogue about the woods, the flames danced in the shimmering surface of the window as he looked to see Ororo knelt down at his couch. She was as tormented as any of them to see one of their own suffering.

Leaning in to wish sweet dreams with her kiss, that was something he couldn't do for them. Ro could play the big sister or let the kids believe her to be their missing mothers after a bad dream before tucking them back in. She was the one they went too when they needed womanly advice, or just advice on woman as it went for the boys, something he'd seen her do with Rogue more times than he could count or ever hope to repay.

"Scotch, neat." Ororo greeted as she handed him a tumbler, "For myself I felt like a rum."

"Thanks." As lost to thought as he was he hadn't even noticed her come back until she was upon him.

Adding a couple of half burnt leftover logs to the fire, he settled down across from her. Her alluring scent joined the smoke wafting from his chimney and all the aromas of the late autumn eve. Her hair was amber in the firelight while her eyes were the sky at sunset, azure and ever changing shades of red and orange.

"She's still too stubborn to take you up upon the offer of your bed?"

Choking on his cigar with a haggard cough, he might have thought himself alone in his mind taking dive to the gutter if Ororo hadn't looked to be suffering a little chagrin herself.

"Kid laid down the law with a lot o' words that might o' ended her up in detention had she said them in class, so I took the hint and let her be."

"...she looks comfortable." Ororo whispered, her gaze lost to where Jubilee slept so she could hide from him.

"Don't go tellin' her this, but there's been more than a few nights I've hunkered down on that couch myself. Wouldn't want her havin' any reason to go curling up on the floor, now would we?"

The titter of laughter joined the crackling snap of the fire as Ororo turned on him. He'd thought her a frosty something or other on meeting her those years ago, but that facade had fallen away ever since they'd lost Jean. To hear her laugh was worth the thunder of her anger that blew with a cold wind, as her laughter was a warm breeze while her smile promised clear skies.

"I always thought this was a side you only showed to Rogue." Ororo whispered, her eyes intent on him.

And in her eyes the flames danced and called to him, for however primal his beast was that beat beneath his breast she was so far beyond it as to be the elements themselves.

"It takes a special someone it seems..." To let himself be comfortable around, to be vulnerable with...

Helpless against the fire that threatened to consume him, he rose from his chair and knelt with her as she had his little houseguest. She tried to hide from the very question she wanted to ask, tried to put on that frosty veil she wore to keep herself safe. He offered her his answer if only she could accept it, her reply the brush of her lips against his that was a flash of lightning that called down the thunder to shake the land.

Tasting rum on her lips as they parted, he lost himself in her eyes that beckoned to him with the thrill of a dark, untamed wilderness.

"The offer stands if you wanna take me up on it?" Alluding to his bed with a smarmy smirk, her laughter was the only answer he needed.

"Perhaps I could start with your lap so we might see where things progress from there?"

Offering her his hand, he lead her to his chair and tumbled into it together. Breathing deep her scent that stirred the beast in his breast, she was a warmth against him he had never known in all the years he'd been on the road. Holding her hands in his, the cloudless sky above was her smile bespeckled in stars.

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	2. Chapter 2

Marvel owns the X-men, no profit is to be made from this work.

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Sparsely furnished with a rustic bed of bare cedar timbers, a thriftshop dresser, and an Ikea wardrobe picked up at a yard sale, Logan's bedroom was small but made to feel open with large windows that offered a view of the woods. The art that dotted walls was mostly gifts from students, sketches and paintings and photographs alike. Warm and content, Ororo looked to the sun striving to break the clinging canopy of fall colours that painted the leaves in gold and bronze.

"Got ya in my bed after all." Logan whispered from the door.

Laughing lightly, Ororo looked to the poor girl for who she had spent the night so she might chase away any nightmares. Jubilee lay fast asleep at her side, her brow dotted with the sweat of her fever and her cheeks flushed from fatigue. Gladly accepting the mug of tea Logan offered, she watched as he replaced one pitcher for another that was full of icy cold water.

"Here's her pills for today." Resting them at the night stand, Logan settled down at the foot of the bed with his own morning cup.

"Did you sleep well?" The last she had seen of him he'd been laid out on his couch with the sports section of a day old paper.

"I caught a few winks, between 'em I came to check on her a couple o' times."

"I surprised you didn't wake me, I think myself a light sleeper." Ororo confessed, having slept though the night as soundly as it seemed Jubilee blessedly had.

"I can be quiet when I need to be."

Dressed in one of Logan's shirts and little else, Ororo felt a blush warm her cheeks as she envisioned him there at her borrowed bedside doting over Jubilee as she slept. In only jeans he'd pad barefoot across the hardwood, his hand falling over her forehead and cheek with a soft caress of his thumb to show his concern. And then his gaze would shift to admire her as she slept, his naked chest bathed in moonlight to greet her as she stirred...

"Goddess..." Shaking off her little flight of fantasy, Ororo found him tempting her to sate his curiosity with a cocked eyebrow and smirk.

Feeling Jubilee stir in her sleep, Ororo waited for her to wake if just to ease away any confusion. Wincing out of sympathy for her coughing fit, to see Logan fetch a pail he'd placed at the bedside stirred her feelings of affection for him as he let Jubilee clear the congestion of her lungs. Whimpering from the ache of her chest, Jubilee curled up into a small ball and stubbornly blinked away her tears.

"It's right here if ya need it, feel up to a sip of water fer a rinse?" Logan asked as he poured a glass, holding it for her as Jubilee nodded in reply.

Twice Jubilee spat again into the bucket until she finally took a few long sips to sooth her throat. Rubbing her back, Ororo curled with her and drew her into the warmth of the bed to chase away her gooseflesh.

"...thanks."

"No worries kid. Usual breakfast?" Logan asked only to receive another nod so she might save her laboured breath.

"And just what has become her usual?" Thinking of the awful sugary cereal filled with more marshmallows than any semblance of nutrition, Ororo looked to Logan for an answer.

"She's been taking to this instant oatmeal stuff with lotsa brown sugar."

Laughing at the one constant in life, she sighed and softly trailed fingers down Jubilee's side in lieu of tickling her as she longed to. Realizing Logan had been lingering even if he had an order from his houseguest, Ororo looked to him with what she thought to be an amusing mockery of his quirked questioning eyebrow.

"What are ya having Ro, or do you want me to surprise ya?"

"Something light, maybe a bowl of oatmeal as well...though without nearly as much brown sugar as I'm sure someone enjoys."

"Comin' on up, you ladies just enjoy yourselves."

Watching Logan leave in jeans and a muscle shirt, one part of her fantasy was there as she noted his quiet, barefoot step in leaving. Quiet indeed came the thought, quiet enough not to wake her as she slept. Tucking that detail away, she teased and toyed with Jubilee's hair and noticed just how long it was getting.

"...I didn't...did I?" Jubilee croaked, struggling to find her breath.

"No, nightmares or anything else. I just felt like spending the night so Logan offered me his bed, and he helped tuck you in so he could have the couch."

Feeling the worried tension bleed away, Ororo relaxed with Jubilee as she dozed on the edge of consciousness.

"I'll wake you when breakfast is served..."

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Despite having a standing invitation otherwise, Rogue still knocked every time she came on down and today was no different. Setting a kettle to boil for a couple bowls of instant oatmeal, Logan waved her and Kitty on in. Pressing a finger to his lips to hush them, that was something neither needed to be told with how they left their shoes off on the deck.

"Just in time for breakfast." Logan whispered, earning a bright smile from the pair.

_Coffee?_ Kitty mouthed to Logan, pointed off to the waiting pot that he'd only had a mug himself of. Spying Rogue tiptoeing on past in her socked feet and a duffle of clothes for Jubilee, Logan watched with mild amusement as she peeked her head in to check on her friend. Thinking her surprised to find Ro there by how eagerly she waved, she vanished into his room quicker than two shakes of a lamb's tail.

"She feeling any better?" Kitty whispered after a sip of her coffee, moaning out of clear enjoyment of the roast he'd picked up.

"Ain't feelin' any worse at least."

Offering the girl a one armed hug to ease away her worry, that she smacked him away hinted he might need to catch a shower and a shave before she warmed up to him. Setting a skillet to heat up for a little bacon and eggs for himself, Logan tried to ignore the big doe eyes of a girl looking for a plate herself, but damned if he wasn't a sucker for a pretty face.

"Pull out a few plates, if I feed you then I'm gonna have to feed Rogue." Logan grumbled, having a rummage of his fridge for a carton of eggs and a side of bacon.

Quietly cheering with a bubbly bounce to her step, Kitty lined up three plates on the counter and went so far as to lay out napkins and cutlery alike. Tearing open a couple packets of oatmeal for his invited house guest's, Logan poured the piping hot water in and let the magic happen while he dug out the brown sugar. Stirring one until it was damned near syrup, he handed them off to Kitty with a nod to his bedroom.

"Two?" Kitty questioned.

"Ro spent the night."

Where Rogue was excited, Kitty looked to be putting two and two together along with a little speculative math if her sudden, inspired curiosity was anything to go by. The kid was too damned smart for her own good sometimes.

"Something tells me Sparky would like that while it's still warm." Logan growled with a nod to the oatmeal.

"Oops, sorry!"

Shaking his head and wondering just how long it was gonna be until he started hearing about Ro spending the night at his cabin, the kids were always hungry for fresh bits of claptrap and gossip.

Free at last to cook in relative peace and quiet, he set his first batch of bacon sizzling away and got to fixing him and Rogue a mug of coffee each. Small as his cabin was, it was hard to ignore the whispered conversation the girls were having but at least it seemed Ro was holding her cards tight to her chest.

Yet all he could think of was her lips against his as he looked out to the deck, reliving that moment again with a longing to feel her upon his lap once more, to have her in his arms to stave off the chill of the autumn eve. Looking to the couch he'd crashed on, with Jubilee finally settled down in his room just maybe he could entice Ro for a sitting at his fireplace. Painting the picture, from a bottle of wine to a blanket and her in his arms once more, the acrid stench of smoke roused him from his daydream to notice his bacon burning.

"Shit!" Logan swore as the smoke detector rang out.

"Ah heck Logan! I thought ya didn't use the bachelor's cookin' timer!" Rogue laughed as she joined him in the kitchen cracking open windows.

"Hardy har har. Go get my door so the kid doesn't go catching a chill." Logan muttered.

Tiptoeing backwards to close the door as asked, Rogue smiled at Logan with a warmth she saved for moments like this. Rolling his eyes at her theatrics, she'd already told him how sweet she found him for nursing Jubilee. Rewarded just the same with a chaste kiss to his cheek, he hugged her back to feel her melt against him. Sad as it was, he could count the number of folk on a hand give or take a finger that felt comfortable enough with her to not be shy when it came to something as simple as a hug.

"Now you know I gotta ask just what had you so distracted as to go burning the bacon, cause I know you take your bacon almost as serious as you take your beer."

"Lets save it for a walk won't ya, I'm gettin' low on kindling anyway."

Smiling knowingly at him, Rogue looked back to his room. Shrugging it off, Logan let her go and got down to setting his next batch of bacon cooking. Giving one charred piece an experimental chew, he finished the crunchy strip in a few bites.

"Bit overcooked, but it ain't half bad."

"Oh you're just lucky you got that healing you do cause that's straight up charcoal. Save it for tinder, Mister."

Enjoying another strip just to spite her, Rogue rolled her eyes to then notice her waiting mug. As the stench of burnt bacon and smoke cleared she wandered around to close windows and shut doors, popping up on the counter afterwards to watch him cook.

"Lemme guess, yer making sure I don't go burning anymore?"

"Well ya know I like mine chewy, I can't have ya making it all crispy how Kitty likes hers."

"I could eat mine damned near raw." Logan chuckled, smirking at her wrinkled nose.

"And you wonder why I'm makin' sure you cook mine right?" Laughing as he glared at her, if Logan thought he had anything on Jubilee's stink eye then he was sorrily mistaken.

"Picky, picky, picky."

Laughing as he cooked, Rogue wasn't one to cut him any slack. She wasn't afraid of the big, bad Wolverine anymore than he was afraid of her. Thinking back to what Ro said the night past and his own confession, seeing Rogue sitting there on his counter did his heart good. They could drop their guard around each other, open up and let themselves be vulnerable.

"What?" Whether she noticed his lingering gaze or felt the weight of his thoughts he didn't know, but Rogue looked at him with a bemused smile that coaxed one from him.

"Just thinkin' it's nice to have someone to share this with."

"Breakfast?" Playing dumb with a laugh, her eyes betrayed her.

"Brat. Now tell me if this is chewy lookin' enough for ya?"

"Just a _little_ bit longer. Except the second piece from the left. That one's perfect."

"My left or your left?" Logan asked, smirking as she got up in a huff to snatch her perfect piece of bacon.

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"Hey Jujubes, want me to run you a bath?" Kitty asked as she crouched at the bedside with Jubilee.

"...ya saying I'm smelly?"

"Not a post gym class stink or anything, but there is a definite odour. Besides, you look like you could use a nice long soak anyway."

Stretching in her borrowed buttoned shirt of Logan's, Ororo entertained the idea of a nice, long hot shower to start her day. A peek in his bathroom from a prior visit left her knowing she could enjoy one while still keeping an eye on Jubilee. Logan's bathroom was a marriage of natural stone and wood that she envied for the slate tiled shower stall, but it was his cedar soaker she was positively jealous of.

"I could do a bath..." Jubilee confessed after mulling over the idea with another mouthful of her oatmeal.

"Cool. Hey, I'm also gathering up your laundry, trading ya clean for sweaty. Want me to help you out of your pj's?"

Pursing her lips with furrowed brows, Jubilee considered the favour as she stared at Kitty who stared back with mischief in her eyes. Letting go of a tired sigh as she had no strength to put up a fight anyway, Jubilee nodded and let Kitty have her fun.

"I would like to thank my volunteer from the audience." Kitty announced with a chuckle, merrily ghosting off Jubilee's pj's and everything else that had been keeping her warm before tucking the blanket about her. "I'll go get that bath running for ya and snag your towel."

Watching it all with a fond smile, Ororo looked to her own clothes from the night before with a displeased moue twisting her lips. Snooping was a habit of hers from a lifetime ago, a life spent as an opportunistic street urchin leaving it's mark. Finding a terrycloth robe hanging in the wardrobe, she added her borrowed shirt to her own laundry. Wrapping herself up in Logan's robe, she enjoyed his lingering scent and the hint of aftershave.

Settling down at the foot of the bed, to see Jubilee staring quizzically at her Ororo realized she might have let her secret slip. As understanding dawned in the sleep addled girl's eyes, Ororo raised a finger to her lips to hush any questions she might have.

"I'll tell you when it's just us..." Ororo whispered, trailing her finger to Jubilee's flushed cheek before resting her hand at her warm brow, "But for now I think it's time you took your pills."

"Can you break the big one in half? It sticks in my throat..."

"Of course."

Filling a fresh glass of water, one by one the pills vanished with a sip until they were all gone.

"I hate being sick..." Jubilee groused, her eyes heavy with fatigue.

Biting her tongue against a bitter laugh, Ororo offered a comforting hug as she thought of all the children she'd heard that from over the years. To see Kitty playing the worried big sister warmed her heart, something she herself had done back when she'd been her Kitten's age.

"And to think you'd usually be complaining about not getting enough sleep." Ororo teased.

"...all I wanna do is sleep, it's no fun when I can't even stay awake for a movie." Jubilee pouted with a wheezed breath.

"I know."

Thinking to after their bath and shower, Ororo entertained the idea of picking out a movie to while away the morning with. And if Jubilee fell asleep, well, she could always pause it until she next woke and pick up where they left off. It was a Saturday after all, and she had nowhere else to be. But in the back of her mind a guilty part of her thought how nice it would be to spend a little more time with Logan and the young ladies he'd opened his heart to, Rogue, Kitty and Jubilee alike.

Thinking again of their kiss from the enchanted evening past, of the feel of his arms wrapped about her as she enjoyed the warmth of his lap, to while away a Saturday eve unto a Sunday morn was another enticing idea to be toyed with through her shower.

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	3. Chapter 3

Marvel owns the X-men, no profit is to be made from this work.

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"Ah heck, this one's all rotted out." Rogue muttered, snapping the dried out branch over her knee with ease.

"Careful there kid, don't need ya gettin' a splinter." Logan said with a throaty chuckle.

It was their old joke for walks like this, all it ever took to patch her up was all the effort it'd take to wipe away a smudge of dirt or her old game of swatting at non-existent skeeters just to smack him because she felt like it. Hauling an armload of kindling as he enjoyed a smoke, the crisp fall air was ripe with the smell of fallen leaves still damp with dew.

"Well we gotta stock ya up for tonight." Smiling sweetly at the fella that was so much more than a friend, best or otherwise, Rogue leaned up against a tree to stare him down.

Now he was in for it, batting her lashes while giving him a big ol' doe eyed dose of her beautiful green eyes that had the boys dumber than bricks around her.

"This stack of kindling ain't getting any lighter." Logan grunted, hefting up his armload for show.

"There something goin' on between you and Ro?"

She sure as hell wasn't one to beat around the bush, not like her friends who'd play twenty questions trying to weasel something out just so they could go gossiping.

"We mighta kissed, and to borrow a word ya kids like ta throw around, we cuddled for a spell at my fire pit last night."

"Don't, don't you ever use the word cuddled again Logan, ya hear me? You ain't a man who cuddles."

Smirking at how embarrassed she sounded from him borrowing a word he heard Kitty and Jubilee throw around plenty to talk about Bobby and her, he wasn't about to let Rogue get off that easy with telling him what it was he did with a lady.

"Well why don't you go take a guess at what Ro and myself got up to if we didn't cuddle?"

Never one to back away from a challenge, Rogue pursed her lips and put some thought into the night past.

"Well I'm thinkin' you were slunk back in one of those shop class Adirondacks and she was up on your lap with her legs dangling over the arm. I'm guessin' if she took a hike on down here last night then she had on a jacket that you were plenty interested in gettin' her outta, tryin' for the zipper just to get your hand smacked at. Of course that wouldn't stop ya, and something tells me ya might have been a little distracted with her legs bein' so close and handy."

Giving her that with a nod, the kid painted it pretty much how it happened. Except that Ro hadn't put up much of a fight to get outta her jacket with how hot the fire burned, her sweat a sweet scent he had enjoyed almost as much as the swell of her bottom against his lap.

"Good guess."

"What can I say Sugah, I had ya runnin' around up in my noggin, bad habits and all."

"Well, don't go taking after too many o' 'em, hell if I don't know you got a temper when ya get riled up."

Smiling proudly, Rogue stepped up to him and took her time to enjoy the crinkle and crush of leaves under her feet. Wrapping him up in a hug, he returned it with his free arm that wasn't busy hauling kindling.

"Why don't I treat you and your pals to lunch, I got some dogs in the fridge and all that crap ya left behind from the last cook out you hosted."

"Fire roasted hot dogs and S'mores? I'm game. What about Jubes?"

"If she ain't feeling up to it I always the hot chocolate that came on down with her care package."

Heading on back side by side, his hand on her shoulder and hers slipped into the back pocket of his Levi's, he had his little stowaway to thank for all his happiness. It was a lonely road he travelled until the day she jumped into his trailer in a damned fool act that would have seen her frozen before his next stop.

"Speakin' o' cuddling and bad habits of mine, Drake better make sure cuddlin' is all he's doing."

"What about kissing?" Rogue asked with a sweet smile as she looked up to his stoic facade.

"His funeral."

"Prick." Rogue spat, laughing just the same because she knew he didn't mean it.

Joining her with a deep, rolling chuckle, Logan couldn't begrudge Rogue finding her own happiness. He just hoped she took her sweet time and enjoyed getting there, she couldn't be his little Darlin' forever.

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"She's gonna hate me when she wakes up." Kitty giggled as she painted her slumbering friend's toenails in a colour of green she wouldn't be caught dead in.

Curled by the fire in her purloined robe, while Kitty had been so kind to run an errand so she had something to wear, Ororo was content to linger in the warm terry cloth if just to wait until Logan came back from his walk. It was a thrill to think herself marking it as hers, to imagine his flared nostrils breathing in her scent and sweat as she had so enjoyed the hint of his aftershave that hung on it.

All she wanted to see was his eyes darken with lusty hunger as he came back to see her lounging with the robe a little too loose as to offer him a glimpse of what lay beneath, something to feed his desire and set his imagination aflame.

"So...what was it like to kiss him?"

"Oh goddess, I felt he would devour me if I let him..."

"What stopped you?"

Letting go of a breathy laugh as Kitty's audacity, that was a question she had asked herself but the answer lay sleeping but little more than an arms breadth away. As tempting as the offer of his bed had been, it was all too sudden and wholly too bold, which was just so very like Logan. Yet he still managed if not as he had imagined it, and to wake there this morn was fuel for her dreams and fantasies as she thought of everything that could have been.

"Rather who, and you are painting her toes."

Rolling her eyes, Kitty added another coat so she might admire her work before levelling Ororo with a pointed look, "Lee could sleep through a bomb..."

Biting her tongue, that was a lie and Kitty knew it, Stryker sure had proven that point. Capping her polish, she crept up to her sleeping friend and looked on her as if for the first time. Sick, tired, and tuckered out, Jubilee looked too small compared to the lively girl she knew.

"Okay, I guess you had a good reason. It just means we gotta wish Jubes to get well soon again so you don't have any more excuses."

"Temptress." Ororo teased, Kitty's best efforts but a drop in an ocean of temptation.

"Hey! I have to live vicariously through someone, and I'd take you and Logan over Rogue and Bobby any day, hands down."

Realizing she had gotten a little too loud, Kitty turned to see Jubilee squinting and likely wondering just what had woken her up.

"Whatever you do, don't move your feet. I just finished painting your toes and Logan will gut me if you get nail polish all over his couch."

Blinking her tired and bleary eyes as she listened to everything Kitty was saying, Jubilee gave a disinterested snort and settled down back to sleep.

"She must be tired, usually she'd threaten to paf me after waking her up."

"Perhaps I should let you wake her once lunch is decided upon and ready."

"Gee, thanks Ro."

Letting her laughter loose with a warn wind, Ororo sent the fall leaves dancing in the sudden gust that beckoned to the one she longed for. The smoke of the chimney caught up in the breeze was a reminder to Logan that she was waiting on him. His cabin needed him and his foundling girls to make it a home, girls who weren't at all afraid of the Big Bad Wolverine. And looking to the two that kept her company, Ororo thought she needed them all.

At time friends and other times like daughters to them both, they bridged the gap between her heart and his. It was for them she could resist her temptations and take things slow, a sweet torture of her own denial. But the road to his bed was not without its pleasures as she had found out last night, and she looked forward to finding out just what laid in store for her until she was sure.

-=+=–=+=–=+=–=+=-


End file.
